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Is Nairaland/Webmasters As Fascinating As It Was When It Started? - Nairaland / General - Nairaland

Nairaland Forum / Nairaland / General / Is Nairaland/Webmasters As Fascinating As It Was When It Started? (2293 Views)

Poll: Is NL still as Interesting as it was?

Yes - Even More Interenting: 30% (3 votes)
No - Boring By the day: 50% (5 votes)
Just Observing: 20% (2 votes)
Not Decided Yet: 0% (0 votes)
This poll has ended

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Is Nairaland/Webmasters As Fascinating As It Was When It Started? by niddamugu(m): 7:19pm On Apr 02, 2012
Dear all,

I have observed with utter dismay the way this site is being managed especially on the topics. Recently, I have observed that so many posters do not care to refer to topics before posting them hence, there are so many duplication. This thus brings to the fore the question: Are you really getting the desired social interaction/satisfaction it is meant to provide?

The stage is open for your views and comments.
Re: Is Nairaland/Webmasters As Fascinating As It Was When It Started? by Nobody: 7:40pm On Apr 02, 2012
You dont say. . . gerrout of here!! Just kidding, ah well, what can i say? That is just Nigerians being Nigerians.
Re: Is Nairaland/Webmasters As Fascinating As It Was When It Started? by yawatide(f): 6:41am On Apr 03, 2012
I can't speak for the entire site but for this board in particular:
Over the last 5 years at least, the quality of both contributing members and board topics has been on the decline. Unfortunately, once such people leave, they hardly come back.

I hear someone ask, "so why are you still here?", to which I retort, "Interesting, but good question" - It's quite simple: My job affords me the luxury of sitting in front of a computer, with a T1 connection, for 8 hours a day. It therefore is only natural that I visit this board ever so often, even if all I do is stop at the landing page for the board. How long will this last? I honestly don't know, though I continuously pray that the board returns to what it was when I first joined NL.

I remember it like it was yesterday - I was so intimidated by the quality of the posts that it took me at least 3 weeks to make up my mind, with respect to whether or not I should join. These days, I feel like a big fish in a small pond (no boasting intended. I still have a long ways to go, with respect to learning).
Re: Is Nairaland/Webmasters As Fascinating As It Was When It Started? by Nobody: 6:49am On Apr 03, 2012
It is very true. When i first came here too, for a long time, i did not post anything, i was just observing and learning.
Re: Is Nairaland/Webmasters As Fascinating As It Was When It Started? by Slyr0x: 1:08pm On Apr 03, 2012
Yawa-ti-de made a very good point. .and honestly, I feel the SpamBot to a large extent has got a role in this decline.
Re: Is Nairaland/Webmasters As Fascinating As It Was When It Started? by niddamugu(m): 1:53pm On Apr 03, 2012
*dhtml:
It is very true. When i first came here too, for a long time, i did not post anything, i was just observing and learning.

And what does this tell you?
Re: Is Nairaland/Webmasters As Fascinating As It Was When It Started? by Nobody: 7:39pm On Apr 03, 2012
niddamugu: And what does this tell you?
That there are no quality posts again. The board is useless and dead.
Re: Is Nairaland/Webmasters As Fascinating As It Was When It Started? by niddamugu(m): 12:54pm On Apr 04, 2012
*dhtml:

That there are no quality posts again. The board is useless and dead.

To make it worse, this is one topic everyone has avoided - the number of posts can attest to that.
Re: Is Nairaland/Webmasters As Fascinating As It Was When It Started? by yamakuza: 1:03pm On Apr 04, 2012
niddamugu:

To make it worse, this is one topic everyone has avoided - the number of posts can attest to that.

what can be done to reverse the trend?
Re: Is Nairaland/Webmasters As Fascinating As It Was When It Started? by niddamugu(m): 2:45pm On Apr 04, 2012
Owner/admin should automatically showcase previous same topics as soon as a new one is posted and if possible temporarily block the sender and delete the new post.

I'm very sure a lot of people do not even read posts before making comments hence the bore angry angry angry
Re: Is Nairaland/Webmasters As Fascinating As It Was When It Started? by yawatide(f): 4:34pm On Apr 04, 2012
The only way this board will return to prominence is to tackle the root cause of the problem and not the edges: lack of quality members which in turn breeds lack of quality posts.

Make the board such that quality folks come on board and in return, you will get quality posts that many will find worthy of contributing to or debating. Currently, the state of the board is so bad that we aren't even getting the customary request for web reviews. That says a lot to me.
Re: Is Nairaland/Webmasters As Fascinating As It Was When It Started? by rhymz(m): 4:54pm On Apr 04, 2012
The fact here is that the owner of the site is too passive in the running of this site. He seems to have run out of ideas and has allowed pettiness and mediocrity take over his site. Until he shows some activeness in the way things are done here. Quality Censorship has been slaughtered in the alter of getting internet traffic, even the so-called mods are so damn bias, there are certain groupies that they see as untouchables, no matter what they do. Then you have that annoying spambot that ridicules the idea one is trying to convey by ridiculously changing words and meaning. The whole Nairaland Idea has become so childish and petty that serious topics do not make it to the front page while incredibly dumb threads make it straight to the frontpage. And you wonder why intelligent people are taking a break??
Re: Is Nairaland/Webmasters As Fascinating As It Was When It Started? by yamakuza: 5:17pm On Apr 04, 2012
Hmmn.

A lot of your suggestions put the onus on the site owner (govt).

You mean there is nothing the users (citizens) themselves can do?

niddamugu: Owner/admin should automatically showcase previous same topics as soon as a new one is posted and if possible temporarily block the sender and delete the new post.

this will require a lot of AI to program into the new NL. Till then, i guess its up to the mods to do. A load of work that is!

I'm very sure a lot of people do not even read posts before making comments hence the bore angry angry angry

1. They do not know how to search. If they did, they'd have gone to Google first.

2. They've searched, but the results are not current. They need fresh perspectives.
***
If you mean to say that stale topics are being recycled, then i guess u now understand why most of our profs used the same lecture notes for 30+ years!

The students may change, but the knowledge remains the same more or less.

If you need groundbreaking information or knowledge, you might need to pursue advanced degrees on other sites, or upgrade this polytechnic to a university.
Re: Is Nairaland/Webmasters As Fascinating As It Was When It Started? by yamakuza: 5:36pm On Apr 04, 2012
rhymz: The fact here is that the owner of the site is too passive in the running of this site.

while i do not hold brief for the owner, i can only imagine that it takes a lot to keep this site running.

I daresay that if the owner wasnt a geek, the site wouldnt have lasted this long, or reached this position.

He seems to have run out of ideas

if that is true, we can always give/share ours

and has allowed pettiness and mediocrity take over his site.

i do not understand this part. Sounds like you visit the Politics section?

Until he shows some activeness in the way things are done here. Quality Censorship has been slaughtered in the alter of getting internet traffic, even the so-called mods are so damn bias, there are certain groupies that they see as untouchables, no matter what they do.

sounds very Political.

I wont be surprised if he's training the Spambot, and the v2 will be a SpamCop, to assist/replace the mods.

Then you have that annoying spambot that ridicules the idea one is trying to convey by ridiculously changing words and meaning.

guess u have to expand ur vocab. A lot of people manage to communicate without having their words changed.

The whole Nairaland Idea has become so childish and petty that serious topics do not make it to the front page while incredibly dumb threads make it straight to the frontpage.

i'll leave those that understand the "Nairaland Idea" to answer this.

And you wonder why intelligent people are taking a break??

like attracts like, they say. Iron sharpeneth iron.

Maybe if you dont indulge in pettiness with them, they will indulge in seriousness with you?
Re: Is Nairaland/Webmasters As Fascinating As It Was When It Started? by yamakuza: 5:43pm On Apr 04, 2012
yawa-ti-de:
The only way this board will return to prominence is to tackle the root cause of the problem and not the edges: lack of quality members which in turn breeds lack of quality posts.

Make the board such that quality folks come on board and in return, you will get quality posts that many will find worthy of contributing to or debating. Currently, the state of the board is so bad that we aren't even getting the customary request for web reviews. That says a lot to me.

sounds like a Chicken/Egg problem.

Anyone with a stepwise solution?
Re: Is Nairaland/Webmasters As Fascinating As It Was When It Started? by Seun(m): 5:48pm On Apr 04, 2012
Whenever people start complaining about a section, it's always because the moderator is not working or overwhelmed.
I suppose you can blame me for not choosing effective moderators, but you'll need to volunteer if you can do better.
Re: Is Nairaland/Webmasters As Fascinating As It Was When It Started? by Nobody: 6:40pm On Apr 04, 2012
i don't think the section being boring has anything to do with seun, i blame the Moderator, because most post are mostly adverts gone are the day where we fight whose frameworks were better or whose language, or exchanging cool ideas or dhtml killing us with dead hard quiz cry. i miss nairaland which is why i stopped for a while but we can revert back First we need a moderator who works online mostly then we need to get rid of some posts and make it strictly Web Development anything advert will be placed in Web Marketing, once all these comes back i can bet that Webmaster will be nice and more awesome. so its time to move forward who will volunteer to be Moderator. that's the next step.

1 Like

Re: Is Nairaland/Webmasters As Fascinating As It Was When It Started? by BABE3: 6:46pm On Apr 04, 2012
Seun: Whenever people start complaining about a section, it's always because the moderator is not working or overwhelmed.
I suppose you can blame me for not hiring effective moderators, but you need to volunteer if you feel you can do better.

Hire? Do you pay us?

Mr. Seun, you should start paying us. Then, maybe we'll start taking our "job" seriously. How about this . . .

-the more topics a moderator creates, the more cash he/she gets.

-the more posts hidden, the more cash.

-the "cleaner" his/her section is, the more cash.

I think that is the way forward. Money will be a good incentive.
Re: Is Nairaland/Webmasters As Fascinating As It Was When It Started? by yamakuza: 6:52pm On Apr 04, 2012
I thought this section just got 2 new mods recently?

From the logs, Slyr0x has been active. Cant really say same for his partner.

Perhaps Slyr0x can tell us how this place can change?
Re: Is Nairaland/Webmasters As Fascinating As It Was When It Started? by Nobody: 7:01pm On Apr 04, 2012
oh sorry Slyrox works hard my bad didn't know he was the moderator. i wish there was login for Webmaster members to login before you can comment, these days non-webmasters come to derail this section especially when they make front-page.
Re: Is Nairaland/Webmasters As Fascinating As It Was When It Started? by niddamugu(m): 7:53pm On Apr 04, 2012
I have read through the responses and the revelations are getting quite interesting. It would make sense if the poll is completed alongside. Meanwhile, can we make this topic a front page item? Please? The revelations would be shocking. sad sad sad sad
Re: Is Nairaland/Webmasters As Fascinating As It Was When It Started? by yawatide(f): 8:48pm On Apr 04, 2012
yamakuza, actually this isn't a chicken/egg problem. It is quite clear cut as the egg always comes before the chicken. How do I know?

Well, in the evolutionary process, birds are said to be descendants of reptiles. Well, a chicken is a bird and most importantly perhaps, reptiles lay eggs. Therefore, a reptile laid the egg that gave birth to the first bird which eventually laid the egg that gave birth to the first chicken cool

Conclusion:
1) There was "something" that brought together perhaps the best minds that this board has ever had, prior to me joining the board. In some societies, a study would be made to find out what that "something" was, and as a solution, an effort would be made to bring back that "something". It isn't rocket science folks. It can be done. Once that "something" is found, trust me, the quality folks, and hence quality posts will start flocking back like flies flock to over-ripe mango (I would have said something else but the filters would catch it grin)

2) Assuming money is what is driving this site, it only makes sense that efforts be focused on the more productive boards. These boards in my opinion, the bane of any society, will fall under one of the following: entertainment, sex, relationships, politics.

1 Like

Re: Is Nairaland/Webmasters As Fascinating As It Was When It Started? by Nobody: 9:15pm On Apr 04, 2012
I remember the google censorship nonsense. . . .
Re: Is Nairaland/Webmasters As Fascinating As It Was When It Started? by yamakuza: 9:26pm On Apr 04, 2012
Hmmn, ywtd: u make too much sense!

Unfortunately, the oldtimers are not available/around for us to interview and find out what that "something" is/was.

Perhaps "we" will just have to keep on trying different things till we find what works?

One more thing, can you pinpoint the year those people left? Historical research might just help us understand why.
Re: Is Nairaland/Webmasters As Fascinating As It Was When It Started? by Seun(m): 10:53pm On Apr 04, 2012
Throughout the life of this forum, and I mean from the very first month, people have been lamenting the departure of "old timers" and the "fact" that Nairaland is no longer what it used to be. And the forum keeps growing. Nairaland has been simultaneously declining and growing for 7 years; it's not a miracle; it's turnover.

When people start posting about the demise of Nairaland in a particular section, it simply means they are no longer enjoying that section, which is their favourite section, and that is usually because the mod has stopped moderating or the supermod stopped posting topics from the section on the home page because the mod stopped recommending topics to her. It could also be that some popular users stopped posting regularly (after getting banned, married, or employed). And when your favourite section is no longer bubbling, you assume that it means the whole forum is dying, because for you, that section is your personal Nairaland.

When aisha2 and jarus stopped moderating because Buhari lost the presidential election, people started lamenting the decline of Nairaland in the politics section. I take this thread as a sign that the webmaster section needs more attention. I think yawa-ti-de and dhtml (when he's not high) are the main celebs of this section and the section struggles when they stop posting. The section dies completely when there are ads all over the place and the ads are not removed. I'm going to look into the antispam bot's activities.

1 Like

Re: Is Nairaland/Webmasters As Fascinating As It Was When It Started? by DualCore1: 12:52am On Apr 05, 2012
Seun: and dhtml (when he's not high)
ROTFL! I just spilled drink on my keypad angry
Re: Is Nairaland/Webmasters As Fascinating As It Was When It Started? by Nobody: 6:51am On Apr 05, 2012
Madre de dios! geez, that is a compliment. . . .
Re: Is Nairaland/Webmasters As Fascinating As It Was When It Started? by Slyr0x: 8:30am On Apr 05, 2012
Seun: Whenever people start complaining about a section, it's always because the moderator is not working or overwhelmed.
I suppose you can blame me for not hiring effective moderators, but you need to volunteer if you feel you can do better.

Seun,

I can see your failed attempt at shifting blames to the moderators. .Yawa-ti-de made a point and it's the MOST valid here. .How do you expect the board to be as active as it used to be when users are NOT given the free rein(to an extent) to do so?

How do you intend encouraging "webmasters" to participate actively on a board where "few lines of codes" gets eaten by the SpamBot and the "supposed offender" gets banned?

Infact, I opened a thread and even encouraged people to create an extra ID just to get them unbanned. .but then for how long?

Sadly or better put, As expected, Quality members lost interest in contributing.

Now tell me, is it the Moderator's duty to make "Nairaland Still As Fascinating As It Was When It First Started"?




yawa-ti-de:
The only way this board will return to prominence is to tackle the root cause of the problem and not the edges: lack of quality members which in turn breeds lack of quality posts.

Make the board such that quality folks come on board and in return, you will get quality posts that many will find worthy of contributing to or debating. Currently, the state of the board is so bad that we aren't even getting the customary request for web reviews. That says a lot to me.
Re: Is Nairaland/Webmasters As Fascinating As It Was When It Started? by yawatide(f): 10:12am On Apr 05, 2012
yamakuza, most of the "old timers" left this board around 2007, with many more following in 2009. I personally remember not visiting for around 3 weeks around that time but due to reasons described in my first post, I had no choice, so to speak, but to return.
Re: Is Nairaland/Webmasters As Fascinating As It Was When It Started? by Seun(m): 10:26am On Apr 05, 2012
Slyr0x: How do you intend encouraging "webmasters" to participate actively on a board where "few lines of codes" gets eaten by the SpamBot and the "supposed offender" gets banned?
A good moderator doesn't wallow in lame excuses. It's true that the old Nairaland antispam bot got out of hand, but the primary reason that used to happen is when a moderator stubbornly refused to follow our anti-spam protocol. When a post was wrongly banned, you were supposed to immediately report such posts to me, so I would retrain the spam filter not to recognize them as spam. But mods refused to do that, causing the antispam bot to become more and more aggressive because it thought it was making the right decisions. Yawa-ti-de had the same problem of not wanting to submit reports when she was a mod. It's a geek thing.

However, New Nairaland has solved the problem in two ways: (1) The new antispam bot is less aggressive. (2) Mods are now able to mark and unmark spam posts at the click of a button themselves, without having to report the posts to me. Every moderator can mark and unmark spam posts in any section of the forum. Moreso, all members can now send emails to mods directly from the moderators' profile at any time, so all spam-related issues can be reported without opening extra user accounts or posting to threads. So if we see any spam on this section, or any post wrongly marked as spam, it's appropriate to blame the mods. They have been empowered.

1 Like

Re: Is Nairaland/Webmasters As Fascinating As It Was When It Started? by niddamugu(m): 11:00am On Apr 05, 2012
Ladies & Gents,

1. The reason for this post is (i think) my "little" contribution towards rejuvenating NL following the owner's initiative of giving it a face lift.
2. Let's stop trading blames - it takes nobody anywhere
3. Who is moderating this post?
4. What does it take to be a mod?
5. Why is this post not on the front page? That way we can be compelled to taking prompt actions following the responses/revelations we would get.
Or is NL into politics too?

Speak now while it is hot and fresh.
Re: Is Nairaland/Webmasters As Fascinating As It Was When It Started? by yamakuza: 11:14am On Apr 05, 2012
^ ndi, na u start thread, na u go moderate am
[s]
btw, if e reach FP, dem go take am do "abasha", IMHO.
[/s]

yawa-ti-de:
yamakuza, most of the "old timers" left this board around 2007, with many more following in 2009. I personally remember not visiting for around 3 weeks around that time but due to reasons described in my first post, I had no choice, so to speak, but to return.

thanks 4d info ywtd.

@Seun & other oldies: can u pinpoint whats unique about those 2 dates?

Removal of PMs? Introduction of spambot? "disagreement" with forumites?
Graduation from uni?
Emergence of BB/other Social Networks?

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